Editorial Supports Family Friendly Libraries in Greensboro, NC, and Bandwidth Shapers Help

This editorial from the Greensboro, NC, News & Record is outstanding in its support for common sense and family friendly libraries:

"Editorial: Libraries Versus Porn," by Editorial Board, News & Record, 19 November 2009, emphasis mine:

Still, the library keeps searching for a happier medium and may have found one. Called a "bandwidth shaper," the device essentially makes viewing porn much more difficult by slowing the flow of information from certain sources to the point that it becomes excruciating.

Like a filter, the bandwidth shaper can misread a valid source as Internet porn. Further, librarians tend to defend the First Amendment as fiercely as newspaper people.

But there have to be reasonable limits. The library rightly has promoted the bandwidth shaper from pilot project to standard procedure. The occasional burps in that technology are a small price to pay for family-friendly libraries.

Look at that! "Reasonable limits"! "Family-friendly libraries"! What a concept! Remember, the American Library Association's [ALA] former 40 year de facto leader said, regarding Playboy magazine available to children in the Oak Lawn Public Library, "I get very concerned when we start hearing people who want to convert this country into a safe place for children."  "Parents who would tell their children not to read Playboy 'don't really care about their kids growing up and learning to think and explore.'" Hey Greensboro, the ALA is "very concerned" you want family friendly libraries!!!

Even better, it is a pleasure to see yet another editorial (example) that states common sense instead of spouting the usual misinformation.

Perhaps the Greensboro libraries are under local control instead of ALA control!  May the citizens, the government, the library, and the media continue to work together to keep it that way.

For more on the bandwidth shaper, see my previous blog post, "Bandwidth Shaper Slows Porn in Greensboro Public Library; Parents Had Stopped Taking Kids to Library; Acceptable Use Policies Do Not Work; List of Articles on Getting Porn Out of Libraries."

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Bandwidth Shaper Slows Porn in Greensboro Public Library; Parents Had Stopped Taking Kids to Library; Acceptable Use Policies Do Not Work; List of Articles on Getting Porn Out of Libraries

Another library acts to stop porn viewing!  Look at this innovative approach, called bandwidth shaping, in the Greensboro Public Library in Greensboro, NC, using a device by Cymphonix:

A device called a "bandwidth shaper" is designed to identify Web sites by categories — including pornography — and allow the library to slow down access.

When the device finds a computer streaming video from a porn site, the bandwidth is slowed to 1 kilobit per second — slower than old-fashioned dial-up — which would cause the screen to give an error or timed-out message.

"It's not filtering it," said Tommy Joseph, manager of technology and reference at the library. "It's discouraging it."

Source: "Library Computer Users Viewing Porn Anger Parents," by Lorraine Ahearn, News & Record, 15 November 2009, emphasis added.

It's not filtering, it's "discouraging"!  I love that!

And again we see "acceptable use policies" do not work to stop porn viewing:

Internet porn viewing is a hot enough issue on the library system's 227 public computers that the city this year quietly purchased a device that identifies porn sites and makes them load so slowly that they are difficult to view.

At Central Library between January and July, security guards caught 89 card-carrying patrons viewing pornography on the computers. Most of the patrons caught viewing porn at the Central Library would have received an initial warning that they were violating the library's "acceptable computer use" agreement.

Greensboro Public Library, tell us more!  Get the message out to other libraries so they too can try the "bandwidth shaper," "the $8,000 Cymphonix bandwidth management system now in place"!

Meantime, I'll get the message out that libraries can successfully remove porn (although Greensboro Library Director Sandy Neerman says filters do not work, but she does admit libraries should consider community standards: "It’s an institution, but also, what is the community standard, and what are they willing to support? It’s a balance you’re weighing all the time."):

• "Public Breaks Into Applause for Library Board that Unanimously Voted for Internet Filters to Stop Porn Viewing in Public Library," 15 November 2009.
• "4664 Successfully Petition for Filters on Public Library Computers," 19 August 2009.
• "IT Experts Say Library Filtering Easy to Configure," 7 August 2009.
• "Sensible Censorship: Surfing for Porn Shouldn't Be a Public Library Service," 29 July 2009.
• "Somona County Wants Internet Filters; Library Director Sandra Cooper Defies Grand Jury Claiming 'Slippery Slope'; Local Library Policy Plagiarizes ALA," 12 July 2009.
• "Library Director Extols Internet Filtering; Porn Should Be Excluded From Libraries; Dynamite Reading For Library Directors, Trustees and Patrons," 5 July 2009.
• "7-1 Vote FOR Internet Filters in Owosso, MI," 4 July 2009.
• "One Child Assaulted Per Month in Libraries Without Internet Filters; Suit Should Be Brought Against the American Library Association," 18 April 2009.
• "Election Robocall Targets Library Porn; Politicians Should Be Aware Library Filtering Issues May Become Political Election Issues," 25 October 2008.
• "Safe Libraries and McGruff in Albuquerque, NM - A Model For the Nation," 18 October 2008.
• "Australia Going to Mandatory Filtering," 14 October 2008.
• "Crying Censorship and the ALA; Don't Let the ALA Redefine Censorship," 26 August 2008.
• "Go To Hell, ALA, Says Trend Setting Library Director; Wants to Implement Monitoring Software to Watch Computer Screens From Afar," 18 June 2008.
• "Library Held Hostage Using Filtering System as Ransom," 17 June 2008.
• "Library Admits Filters Work and People Want Them; Boulder Public Library Defies ALA," 8 June 2008.
• "Demonstration Proves Library Filters Work; San Jose Councilman Pete Constant Counters Library Director's False Claims," 31 May 2008.
• "Hartford Librarians Should Sue to Rid ALA Influence," 18 May 2008.
• "Library Director Lies to Stop Filters; Desperate Move to Mislead Public Contradicts the Library's Own Policy," 18 April 2008.

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